


Spiderling

by Moonlightsplash



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 21:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12873612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlightsplash/pseuds/Moonlightsplash
Summary: Post Civil War AU fic.  Tony Stark becomes responsible for Peter not long after Germany.





	Spiderling

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer- Marvel owns everything Spider-Man related.
> 
> This is my one and only attempt to write Peter as a teenager. I grew up with Spider-Man and the MCU taking him back to high school made me sad. :(
> 
> Oh, Vision isn't in this. Just assume he's off somewhere doing Vision things. I just couldn't write him...
> 
> This was written long before Homecoming.

“Hey Tony? Did Spider-Man make it back okay?” Rhodey asked him. “I’ve been looking, but he hasn’t been in the news in like 2 months now.”

Tony raised his head to look at him, the blue light of his holographic schematics tinting his face. “He did. I made sure of it. Maybe he just hasn’t felt like going out. He’s pretty certain he’s not going to sign the Accords, so that means he has to give it up.”

Rhodey shrugged. “Just wonderin’, Tones. Not many superhumans left out there. He seemed like a nice guy, but a little on the small side.”

“I’ll give him a call later and make sure he’s doing okay. How about that?”

“Thanks, Tony.” Rhodey said before rolling back out the door. Tony’s gut clenched at the sight of his best friend in that damn chair. He turned back to his schematics. He was determined that by the time Rhodey had healed up, he’d have a set of mechanical leg braces ready to let him walk. Unfortunately, he spent his night in the lab and forgot all about calling Peter.

 

It turned out to be nearly a month later before the subject came up again. The two of them were sitting comfortably in the living room watching TV when the news ran a TV special, ‘Where is Spider-Man?’ They watched as everyone was interviewed from the Chief of Police, to people on the streets. Everyone wanted to know where their spider was. Rhodey finally nudged him.

“So? Was he okay?”

“Actually, I forgot to call him. I’ll do it now.” Tony said, pulling out his phone and hitting Peter’s number. The phone rang twice before he got the message, ‘The number you have dialed is not a working number. Please check your number and try again.’ He held his phone out and looked at it in astonishment.

“His number’s not working.”

Rhodey straightened up. “That’s not good.”

“No it’s not.” Tony said grimly. “FRIDAY! Go to work and find him for me.”

“I’m on it, boss.”

“What do you think’s going on?” Rhodey asked and Tony shrugged.

“I don’t know but tomorrow I’ll be looking into it.”

 

It actually took FRIDAY two days to dig the information out of the government files. Peter’s Aunt had been killed by a druggie in the ER she worked in and he’d been turned over to foster care.

“Foster care? The hell, FRIDAY? Why didn’t he call me?”

“Actually sir, he did. He called the general number though and left a message for you 12 days after arriving back from Germany. I did not have any flags set up to alert for his name in the system, so I wasn’t informed of it. I’ve corrected the oversight.” FRIDAY told him.

Tony’s stomach clenched unpleasantly. He’d told the kid to call him if he needed anything and then the kid did… And he’d never answered.

“Let’s go talk to Peter, FRIDAY and see how he’d doing.”

It was a three and a half hour drive to the kid’s new school. He parked out front and waited just like all the other parents. When the bell rang, he got out and stood next to the car patiently searching the crowd for a graceful 15 year old.

“I don’t see him, FRIDAY.”

“Boss? I’ve got someone that would fit in the bottom edge of Peter’s baseline specs. He’s walking down the sidewalk to your left wearing the gray hoodie.”

Tony straightened up and strode over. “Peter?” He called out as he got closer. He was rewarded by a slowing of the kid’s steps and a glance over his shoulder. “Wait up!”

The kid stopped but never lifted his gaze from the sidewalk. Tony walked over and laid his hand on Peter’s shoulder, frowning immediately at feeling the bones protruding under his hand.

“Talk to me, Peter.”

“No thank you, sir.” Peter said softly. “I’ve got to go or I’ll get in trouble for being late.”

“FRIDAY and I finally found your message. We didn’t have the system set to flag your name. Why didn’t you call my cell?”

Peter shrugged. “My phone was dead, so I didn’t have your number and then they took it from me. My Aunt paid for it after all.”

“Damn. Looks like I didn’t plan this well at all then. What can I do to help?”

“Nothing.”

“Peter!” Tony said in frustration. “You’re skin and bones, kid! You’re obviously not eating enough.”

“I eat when I can, Mr. Stark. Is that all? I’ve got chores to do.”

“No, it’s not all. I’ll talk to your foster parents. Maybe I can get it set up so you can come up on the weekends or something.”

Peter shuddered. “NO! What a mess that would be! No, no one needs to know that I met you, sir. Ever. I just want to turn 18 and vanish. Not be used by some crazy wanting an ‘in’ to see you. I’ve got to go.”

Peter turned and headed down the street at a brisk walk, leaving Tony standing there stunned. He finally turned and walked back to his car, getting inside before pulling out his phone and calling Pepper. Peter needed help.

 

It took them three days to find it, but May Parker had a will. Problem was, no one had notified her attorney and thus, it was never read. The poor guy had been horrified to find out she’d been killed and Peter turned over to foster care. 

Between SI’s legal team and May’s attorney, they had a rush put through the courts, granting Anthony Edward Stark full custody of Peter in the event that anything happened to her. She’d changed her will just a couple of days after Germany. That’s how he found himself parked outside the foster home, waiting to pick Peter up.

His lawyer was standing next to him as they waited for the kid.

“I didn’t even know you knew any kids, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiled. “Peter’s a special case.”

The door opened and an older couple came out, pushing Peter before them. The kid had a whopping two bags, his backpack and a gym bag. Tony quickly strode over and introduced himself to them. He nudged Peter gently towards the car.

“I hate to rush, but we’ve got a long drive to get home by this evening. Sorry for the bother!” He said as he opened the door and tugged Peter over and inside. A few words with his lawyer made sure everything was good and he slipped into the driver’s seat.

“What do you want to eat, Peter?”

“Nothing, sir. I’m fine.” Peter said in his lifeless voice.

“Alright then. I’ll decide. You’re so thin it’s scary, Peter.”

He went through a drive through and got them a bag of burgers, but couldn’t convince Peter to eat even one of them. As soon as he nodded off, Tony spoke.

“FRIDAY? Get Doc Williams out. Peter’s going to see him tonight. Something’s really, really wrong.”

“On it, boss.”

He called Rhodey next. He’d had to explain about Peter to him as they worked the court system for custody and now Rhodey said he’d let the Doc in when he got there. Tony was never so grateful to see the Avengers compound in his life as he pulled up into the garage and parked. Rhodey was already waiting and Tony walked around to pick up Peter. The kid had slept the entire journey. Rhodey grabbed the kid’s bags and followed him to the Med Bay.

Doctor Sherman Williams was one of the best in the business. Tony had hired him originally for the Avengers, but didn’t have a lot of need for him ever since the Civil War. Doc Williams did a lot of freelance work now to keep himself busy.

“Set him on the table, Mr. Stark.”

Tony laid him out and pulled the hoodie off the kid. All of them had to stop for a second.

“Shit!” Rhodey swore. Peter was a skeleton and Doc Williams set to work.

“Normally I’d say he needs a hospital, but your Med Bay is better than any facility in New York. He needs a lot of fluids and a lot of easily digested, high calorie foods.”

Doc rattled off a list of things Peter could eat right now and Tony and Rhodey took off to the kitchen. By the time they returned with a tray of food for the kid, the Doc had Peter on an IV and settled in bed.

“I’ve given him a shot to help boost his appetite. When you get to this stage, hunger’s not working. He’s going to have to put on some weight before he’ll even feel the first hunger pang.”

Tony and Rhodey both nodded and Doc Williams pointed to the tray. “You said he’s superhuman, right? One of those with an enhanced metabolism?”

“That’s right.” Tony said and Doc nodded.

“He needs to eat at least that much no less than 5 times a day right now. I’m sure he’s going to get sick of eating, to be honest with you. However, he not only has an already fast metabolism, he needs to gain a huge amount of weight and his body is trying to develop physically. We’re talking somewhere around 22000 to 25000 calories a day for the foreseeable future.”

Rhodey whistled. “Damn. That’s a lot of food to get down a kid that doesn’t even want to eat.”

“I know. That’s why I’ll keep giving him the shots to stimulate his appetite. It’s going to be a struggle to get him back to a healthy weight.”

Tony picked Peter up a bit and slid into place behind him to hold him upright. “C’mon, Rhodey. This could take a while.”

It did. It took them almost 40 minutes to get Peter to eat everything on the tray, although it got easier about 15 minutes in. A glance over at the Doc who waved another syringe at him and Tony nodded. Apparently it took a larger than normal dose of appetite stimulant too. They helped Peter to the restroom and got him a set of pajamas to wear. Rhodey even came back dragging a comforter to throw across the bed.

Tony simply sprawled out on the bed next to Peter. He was going to sit by the kid’s side until he was back on his feet. Rhodey had to go back to his bed, so he could take his braces off, but Doc Williams simply pushed a couple of chairs together and settled into them. Unfortunately for Tony though, he had a business to run. Despite his best efforts, it was Rhodey who was staying with Peter round the clock, along with Doc Williams.

He was dragging himself in from a trip to Tokyo a few weeks after Peter got there and stopped by the Med Bay, only to find it empty.

“FRIDAY?”

“Doc allowed Peter to stay up today, sir. Mr. Rhodes got him a room ready and Peter’s in there.”

Disappointment shot through him at missing another thing with Peter. “Where’s his room?”

“Next door to yours, sir.”

Perking up a bit, Tony made his way through the silent halls. He stopped in front of Peter’s door. “Is he sleeping?”

“No, sir. Mr. Rhodes has been trying to find a tutor that can home school Peter, since he missed so much school lately. Peter is reviewing his text books.”

Tony knocked on the door. “Peter?”

“It’s open.”

He shoved the door open. “Hey kid. I just wanted to let you know I was home. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, sir. Mr. Rhodes and Doctor Williams have taken good care of me. I’d like to thank you for taking me in. You definitely didn’t have to.” Peter told him, his eyes serious as he looked up at him from his desk.

“Where’s your laptop?”

“They took it. I guess it was auctioned off along with everything else.” Peter said quietly and Tony grimaced. 

“I’ll get you another one.”

“No need. I don’t need a laptop for school.”

Tony made his way over to Peter’s bed and flopped down on his back. “You do TOO. Everyone needs a laptop for school.” He waved his hand at Peter. “Come over here and lay down. Tell me how everything’s been going for you.”

Peter stared at him for the longest before he slowly got to his feet and walked over. He settled on the bed next to him and they lay there side by side as Tony prodded him into talking. It took a long time but Peter finally started to speak more normally and Tony couldn’t help but smile when the kid started waving his hands around when he spoke. Maybe… Just maybe… They’d be able to get Peter back to health.

 

Tony woke up to a terrible stillness in his house. Everything inside of him was giving off ‘danger’ signals.

“FRIDAY? Status!” He hissed softly and when he didn’t get an answer, he knew it WAS his answer. He carefully slid forward and opened the hidden door on his nightstand, pulling out his gun. He could hear his door opening as he lay there, gun ready. There were the soft thuds of many feet on the other side of his bed.

“Shit! He’s not in bed?”

“Where is he?”

Tony took a deep breath and rolled into position and started firing. His hopes fell through the floor though when he saw there were at least 10 in the room, and all of them were wearing body armor. The fight was over quickly and he was soon being drug out to the living room, battered and bloody but still alive. He was dropped to the floor next to Rhodey, who didn’t have his leg braces on and looked grim.

It was less than a minute before Doc Williams joined them, bleeding from the temple. A giant of a man stepped forward.

“Hello Mr. Stark. Lovely place you have here.”

“Glad you like it. I could have actually gotten you an invitation.” Tony said. “Mind telling me what the hell’s going on?”

The man waved his hand. “Not at all. We’re merely here for the armor and then we’ll make sure you can’t build it for anyone else.” He told him, smiling cheerfully. “It will soon be over.”

“Who do you work for?” Tony snapped. “If you’re planning to kill me anyway, it won’t hurt to say anything will it?”

The big man laughed and laughed. “No, it wouldn’t hurt, but you see, I’m not here to make your last few minutes of life enjoyable. I rather like the idea of you dying without ever having the answer.”

“Boss? The breakout team’s not answering.” The radio crackled to life and the big man frowned. 

“Is the area shielded?”

“No, sir. They checked in just fine two minutes ago. Now there’s nothing.”

The big man sighed. “It’s so hard to find competent help. I’m sure they managed to activate a self-defense system. Send a squad down and see what happened.”

“Will do, boss.”

A few more minutes of silence went by and Tony traded looks with Rhodey. With FRIDAY down, the defense systems would be down also. It had to be Peter.

“Call them. They should have checked in by now!” The boss snapped and the guy picked up his radio.

“Breakout team! Come in, breakout team! Breakout team, come in!” He tried for over a minute before shrugging. “No answer, boss.”

The man growled something in Russian and pointed to another. “Take your team and FIX THIS.”

In moments, a second squad left the room at a run. That left them in the living room with 21. 

“Having some problems, boss?” Tony growled. “Imagine that.”

“Shut up!” The big man snarled and Tony’s world spun as one of the men hit him with his pistol. He tipped over and landed next to Rhodey, who pulled him over next to him. They waited in silence.

“WHY IS NO ONE ANSWERING?!” The big man roared. “What is going on?” He suddenly stopped and pointed. “Where did your men go?”

“What?” The skinnier figure said. “They’re right the-… What the hell?”

There had been four of them near the door. Now there was no one. Seventeen left in the room. There was a thunderous ‘boom’ from down the hall and all of them rushed forward to look. Tony felt something hit his lap and smiled. It was his watch. He slipped it on quickly and looked over to see Rhodey doing the same with a smile.

Tony looked up when he heard the boss yelling. The group traveled back, but now there were only 11. The big guy was absolutely furious and he snarled out several commands in Russian before pulling his gun and pointing it at Tony, who met his glare.

“Enough of this shit! Once you’re dead, this will no longer be a problem.” Tony gathered himself to jump out of the way. “Say good-…”

“No! Not Tony!” A young voice yelled and suddenly, Peter was there. He was standing between him and the boss. Tony felt his fear spike.

“Peter! Run, damn it!”

The kid ignored him, babbling non-stop as he waved his arms around and kept wiping away tears. The boss man simply seemed stunned. He’d obviously not known there was a teen in the house. The huge man finally grimaced and waved his pistol.

“Whatever. You first then.” He lifted the gun and suddenly there were people flying through the air. Peter dropped all 11 of them, webbing them into place and running back over to them quickly.

“Are you guys alright? You’re bleeding! Mr. Rhodes? Are you okay? I can take all of you to the Med Bay if you need me to.”

Tony lifted a hand to touch Peter’s battered face. He blinked, trying to get rid of the double vision. “You’ve gotten hurt, damn it! You could have been killed!”

Peter frowned. “They came here to kill YOU! Don’t yell at me about almost getting killed! You guys are all bleeding too and FRIDAY wouldn’t talk to me! I didn’t know what to do, but there are a LOT of these guys here!”

“How many, Peter?”

“I’ve taken down 51, not counting the ones in here.” Peter told him. “They were cutting through the vault to get to the armor. It’s a mess down there.”

Tony grimaced. “Help me up. I’ve got to make some calls and get these assholes picked up.”

“All of you need to come by the Med Bay. Every single one of you has been hurt and Peter, you need to eat. You were in no way ready for a fight like that.”

Tony looked closer, seeing the kid’s hands were already starting to tremble. “Carry Rhodey with you to the kitchen. Doc? Can you go with them? I’ve got to make my calls and get FRIDAY up to secure the building.”

“The place is clear, Mr. Stark. The webbing won’t dissolve for two hours, so hopefully someone will be here to get then by then.” Peter called over his shoulder as he carried Rhodey with him. Only once they were safely in the kitchen and he could hear the sounds of pans rattling, did he head downstairs. He had to keep one hand against the wall to keep himself from tipping over, as the world kept tilting alarmingly.

He dialed the police as he headed down to repair FRIDAY. They gave him an ETA of 12 minutes and he texted it to Rhodey. These s.o.b’s would pay for putting Peter into danger. He’d make sure of it.

 

Tony leaned back from the dinner table and patted his stomach happily. Peter and Rhodey were chatting about how accurate the Bourne movies were of all things. He snorted and shook his head. Somehow, the deafening silence of their lives was being filled up by a teenager that couldn’t shut up. He finally had to break in and get them started cleaning up with him.

Peter was used to doing it and it always went quickly with him there. Once the leftovers were put away and the dishwasher was running, Tony drug out the popcorn and threw it in the microwave. 

“Nothing for it now. We’re going to have to watch all of them again!” Tony yelled to be heard over their voices. “FRIDAY, get the first Bourne movie ready for us.”

“Sure thing, boss!”

Rhodey and Peter both cheered and Rhodey headed to the couch. It was the weekend and through some heavy scheduling, Tony kept most of them clear, along with his weeknights. He had to be gone sometimes, but Pepper filled in everywhere she could. He pulled out the popcorn when it finished and turned to find Peter standing there, looking both determined and scared.

“Mr. Stark? I mean, Tony?”

“What is it, Peter?”

Peter took a deep breath. “I need your help, sir.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. “You know you’ve got it, kid. You don’t even have to ask.”

Peter managed a weak smile at him and gestured. “Can you come with me for a minute?”

“Sure thing.”

Tony followed Peter back to his room and the kid dug through one of his bags. He pulled out a battered leather briefcase and brought it over to him.

“This…” Peter took a deep breath. “This is my parents’ work. They were cross-species geneticists at Oscorp.” Peter’s face fell. “They, uh… They didn’t seem to mind using me as a guinea pig, Mr. Stark. Uh, I mean Tony! I just… If you could look it over for me, I’d appreciate it. I only understand about 70%. I’m not really sure what else might show up and I really don’t want to grow eight arms or anything else like it.”

Tony took the leather satchel as he tried to process what the kid had just told him. His own damn parents had used him in their experiments?! Evidently he’d been quiet too long as Peter started shifting nervously.

“Y-you don’t have to, sir!”

Tony shook himself and leaned in, hugging Peter tightly. “Oh yes I do. Now I know why you were so worried about seeing a doctor.”

Peter nodded rapidly. “Oscorp isn’t a good company. I don’t want them to know about me.”

He tucked the briefcase under his arm. “I agree. No one needs to know, do they? Now, anything else?”

Peter took a deep breath and slowly wrapped his thin arms around Tony. “Some of that information… Well, it sounds a lot like my blood could help heal folks. Kinda like sharing my speed healing. If you find something in there that might help Mr. Rhodes and you… I want to help.”

“Oh, Peter…” Tony said softly as he laid his cheek against the kid’s hair. “I’ll do my best okay? However, I’m not hurt like Rhodey.”

“You get hurt all the time, Tony! Don’t tell me you don’t! If you can get speed healing too, then I want to help!” Peter said, his voice muffled as he spoke into his chest.

“Deal then.” Tony straightened up and let him go. “How about we go watch some Bourne?”

“Yeah!” Peter yelled. “Mr. Rhodes thinks they’re not very accurate, but I think they are! I mean, they don’t use Starktech, but it’s perfectly legitimate after market tech!”

Tony just laughed as he heard Rhodey yell from the living room. “Damn it Peter! Call me Rhodey! ‘Mr. Rhodes’ was my father!”

Tony looked over in time to see Peter smile brightly before covering the distance to the living room in one jump and asking “Mr. Rhodes” not to yell in the house.

Peter was sound asleep before the end of the first movie and Tony traded a look with Rhodey to let him know to stay put as he picked Peter up and carried him to his bed. He returned and picked up the leather briefcase, sitting it on the couch between them.

“What the hell is wrong, Tones?”

Tony grimaced and nodded to the briefcase. “Peter gave that to me tonight. It’s his parents’ work. They were cross species geneticists at Oscorp.”

“Cross species geneticists…?” Rhodey echoed before his eyes widened. “Son of a bitch!”

“Oh yeah. They used him in their experiments, Rhodey. Peter said he only understands some of it and wants me to look at it. He’s worried he might grow extra arms or something.”

“Those bastards…!” Rhodey growled out. “How can people DO shit like that?!”

Tony leaned in a bit closer. “Peter said that there’s a lot of information in there about how his blood might be able to be refined to help other people develop speed healing, Rhodey.”

“Make damn sure you lock that shit up deep, Tones.” Rhodey growled out before looking down at his legs. “Wait…”

“Yeah. The kid told me that if it’s true, then he wants to help you and I develop speed healing also. I told him I wasn’t hurt, but he told me that I get hurt ALL THE TIME and I needed it.”

Rhodey laughed and laughed. “He’s right. You get hurt more than a damn squad of military! Too many people gunning for you for your money, your brains, your armor or your looks. Take your pick.”

Tony grimaced and nodded. “Don’t I know it.” He tapped the briefcase. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

Rhodey nodded and rubbed his paralyzed legs. “I can’t even imagine…”

 

“Hey, Rhodey?”

He looked up to find Peter standing before him nervously. “What is it, kid?”

“Um… Could you look at something for me? I know you went to MIT also, so I’m hoping that maybe you can tell me if it’ll work.”

Rhodey grinned and got to his feet. “FINALLY! Someone remembered that I’m not completely useless around tech!”

Peter grinned. “Tony’s got drama on his side, Rhodey. It’s more fun!”

Rhodey couldn’t help but smile and he ruffled Peter’s hair. “You’re right. I usually take my shit to him too and for the same reason.”

He followed Peter back to his room and the kid darted over to his laptop. Rhodey settled on the bed and Peter brought his laptop over to him.

“Here it is, sir. Could you tell me, do you think they might be repairable?”

Rhodey grabbed the laptop and pulled it over to him. The kid had a webpage from a pawn shop in Malibu pulled up. There were a bunch of battered and scorched servers sitting in a row in the picture with the listing. He zoomed in and felt his eyes getting bigger and bigger.

“Peter! Those are…!”

“I think so, too Rhodey. I think they’re from Tony’s house.”

“Shit.” Rhodey said quietly. “None of that shit should have made it out of the place. Never discount the vultures, always looking to pick his bones though.”

They were quiet for a moment before Peter cleared his throat and he looked over at him.

“What is it?”

“Do you think they’re repairable?”

Rhodey grinned and raised an eyebrow. “What exactly do you need 12 servers for anyway?”

“Not for me, Rhodey! Christmas is coming you know. Tony has everything out there. Everything except one person that he misses terribly and doesn’t like to talk about.”

Rhodey blinked as his brain processed that statement before he suddenly looked back at the servers. “SHIT! JARVIS would be loaded onto those bad boys!”

Peter nodded quickly and Rhodey pulled out his phone. “Worth a shot, kid. Let’s get’em here and for once, WE can have a secret project!”

 

It only took a week for the servers to arrive, but it took the two of them nearly 20 days to get all 12 back in operation, working in what little time Peter wasn’t in class and Tony wasn’t home. The explosion had done some damage, but the server room was one of the most heavily shielded in any of Tony’s buildings. Amazingly enough, all of the hard drives were still undamaged, a testament to just how good Starktech really was.

Now though, they were sitting in front of the screen as Rhodey pulled up JARVIS and typed in the command for him to boot up. It was almost Christmas now and Peter’s tutor was on vacation, giving the two of them enough time to get their project finished up.

As they both watched anxiously, the screen changed.

JARVIS initializing… Complete. System check started.

52%... 61%...78%... 90%... 100%. System check completed.

Loading JARVIS. 

Rhodey and Peter watched for a while, but it was apparent that it was going to take a long time for JARVIS to start. He grabbed him by the arm and tugged the kid towards the kitchen.

“Come on, Peter. Let’s get some food in you while J boots up.”

Peter looked longingly at the screen but Rhodey shook his head. “Nope. You have to eat. Period. We’ll come back as soon as you’ve had lunch.”

 

It was all he could do to keep the kid at the table as he bolted his food down, ready to return. Rhodey made him wait as he finished his own meal and they cleaned up. After that, he turned him loose to run back down to JARVIS’ servers. They’d sat there for just over an hour when JARVIS completed his boot up and started.

“Mr. Rhodes?” A polite male voice with a distinct European accent spoke. “I seem to be missing a lot of information and inputs. Could you perhaps tell me what has happened?”

“JARVIS!” Rhodey and Peter cheered and high-fived. “Man, is it good to hear your voice. We’ve missed you, big guy. Poor ol’ Tony though, he’s grieved over you now for more than a year.”

“…Grieved?”

“He has.” Peter said seriously. “You mean a lot to him, Mr. JARVIS.”

Rhodey hugged Peter as he started to explain to JARVIS exactly what had gone on while he’d been out. It took a long time… He’d been speaking for more than a half hour when Peter left, returning in minutes with his laptop. He set it up next to the servers and booted it up, plugging it into the servers.

“Good idea, Peter. Are you seeing the laptop, J?”

“I am. Thank you for the access.”

“No problem! Now, you can probably talk to FRIDAY through the wi-fi, huh? She could fill you in faster and you can meet your little sister.”

Rhodey grinned. “That’s right, J! You have a sibling now. Her name is FRIDAY. Tony made her to try and fill in for you, but she’s still just a baby.”

“I am NOT a baby, Mr. Rhodes!” FRIDAY’s voice broke in and Rhodey grinned. 

“Are too! JARVIS has been alive for more than a decade now. You’re only a year old, girl. Got a ways to go.”

“So, the young man next to you is Mr. Parker?” JARVIS asked. “Sir’s new ward?”

“He is, J. He’s the one that found you and we’ve spent a month getting you put back together. It’s almost Christmas and Peter and I think that giving him back his friend was one of the best gifts we could give him.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rhodes. I must admit that it is good to be operational. I have 395 coding errors I must correct, but my systems are stable and functional. Do you know when sir will be home?”

“FRIDAY has his schedule. He’s been spending evenings and weekends home with us, so he should be here soon.”

Peter and Rhodey’s phones both beeped at the same time and they picked up their phones. “That was me. I am simply connecting to your devices.”

“So cool!” Peter breathed out, eyes shining. “You can get in touch with my phone?”

“I can, Mr. Parker.”

Peter cradled his phone carefully and Rhodey grinned, hugging him briefly.

“We’ll reintroduce you to Tony as soon as he gets home, J. He’ll have to be the one to give you access to everything.”

“Very good, Mr. Rhodes.”

“Is the internet enough for right now, Mr. JARVIS? You won’t get bored while you wait?” Peter asked him and Rhodey smiled fondly at the kid.

“The internet is indeed enough. I am able to track down what I’ve missed and fill in the blanks, so to speak.”

“Good.” Peter suddenly whooped and jumped up, hugging Rhodey tightly. “Thank you so much, Rhodey! I never would have been able to do this by myself!”

“You’re welcome, Peter. For the first time in years, I feel like I got him something he’ll appreciate.”

The two of them went back upstairs to get started on dinner while they waited for Tony to come home. Rhodey ran to his room and grabbed his laptop hauling it to the kitchen and connecting his phone to it.

“JARVIS? Did you connect?”

His laptop screen flickered for a second before JARVIS spoke through the speakers.

“I did. This is the kitchen, correct?”

“That’s right. We wanted you to be able to speak to Tony when he gets here.”

“I appreciate it.”

Rhodey texted Tony when they were almost done, asking him if he was almost home.

I’m coming up from the garage now, Rhodey. I’m starving.

He came strolling in just a few minutes later. “Ooo, smells good guys!” He said, leaning over the table before he caught sight of them. “Okay… What’s going on?”

“Merry Christmas!” Peter blurted out and Rhodey smiled so widely his face felt like it was going to split in two. 

“We found a friend of yours, Tones. Speak up, man!”

“Welcome home, sir. It is good to see you.” JARVIS spoke through Rhodey’s laptop and Tony froze. 

“…Tony? Man, you okay?” Rhodey said worriedly. He made his way around the table to grab hold of his arm. “Just breathe, okay? Peter, pull out a chair for us.”

He darted around the table and between the two of them, they got Tony settled into the chair with a drink. It took a couple of minutes before Tony’s color came back.

“Was that really JARVIS I heard?”

“Hell, yeah man! Peter found him and the two of us fixed him back up!”

“They did indeed, sir. Although I have very limited access right now. Perhaps you could work on that when you get the time?”

Tony’s face crumpled and Rhodey pulled him into a hug, squeezing gently. His best friend in the world was struggling to contain his emotions as Rhodey held him.

Behind them, he could hear Peter whispering to JARVIS. “See? I told you! He’s been grieving for you for a long time, Mr. JARVIS. He’s gonna be thrilled once he gets over being sad.”

“How’d you do it? All of his backups were destroyed. I checked everywhere.” Tony said, his voice hoarse.

“I told you. Peter found him. Your house in Malibu? Apparently the vultures got there before the wrecking crew. There was a set of 12 StarkTech servers in a pawn shop in Malibu, all burnt and battered. He showed them to me and we took a chance. It worked.”

Tony managed a laugh. “You mean for once I have to be grateful the bastards stole from me?”

“You do.”

“JARVIS? You don’t know how good it is to hear your voice.” Tony told him. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get you integrated again.”

“Very good, sir. Might I say also that the food is getting cold? Your physical health is quite good from what I’ve seen. I don’t want to see any backsliding, sir.”

Tony grinned as he straightened up and turned to the table. “Got it. No backsliding. Peter! Let’s eat and then we’ll go see how you guys have JARVIS set up.”

The kid slid into his chair at the table and started piling his plate up with food quickly as the two of them followed suit. Tony couldn’t help but smile through the entire meal as for the first time in over a year, he got to talk with JARVIS while he ate.

 

Tony and Rhodey both walked behind him as Peter ran ahead and into the Tower. It was the day before Christmas Eve and Tony had brought them so that they could integrate JARVIS back into the Tower. He also had a meeting later today across town. Rhodey was going to take Peter on a tour of the Tower while Tony had his meeting before they all headed home for the evening.

They found Peter with his face pressed to the glass walls of the penthouse, staring silently out across the city.

“Hey, Peter? Like the view?”

“Oh, yeah… This is amazing…” The kid said softly. “I had forgotten how much I liked being up high.”

“Well, you can come back and explore all you want to. First though, we need to go to the server room so that JARVIS can go with you guys and FRIDAY on your tour. He doesn’t like being left out of the family gatherings you know.”

Peter nodded solemnly. “I know. He does a good job of taking care of you, doesn’t he?”

An odd feeling swept over Tony and he nodded. “He does.”

FRIDAY delivered them to the server level and they spent nearly an hour in there while Tony enabled access for JARVIS. 

“I now have control over the Tower functions, sir.”

“Good. Between you and FRIDAY, we should have security handled them. Be sure to back yourself up here also. I want you copied everywhere, J.”

“I will, sir. Now, you need to be leaving for your meeting within 40 minutes if you’re going to arrive on time.”

Tony grimaced but nodded and climbed to his feet. “Alright. Let me go introduce you to the department heads and Mike.”

Tony ushered all of them back into the elevator and off on the floor where a party was in full swing. Peter crept even closer as they moved through the crowd and Tony slipped his arm around his shoulders.

“Mike! Phil! Maria! Don! Over here!”

“Mr. Stark!” Everyone yelled at once and there was huge swell through the crowd as they all turned to look at him all at once. Tony kept his smile on his face as he escorted them over to the much smaller group. He made his introductions quickly and all of them shook Peter’s hand. Rhodey already had met them.

“I just wanted you all to know they were going to be here today, going through the Tower. Peter wanted a tour and today is a good day, since not much is going on.”

“I’ll say. It’s Christmas Party time, sir!”

“Don? Peter needs to mix up a few chemical compounds for his classwork. Do you by chance have an empty lab he can borrow for a bit? Rhodey will be with him the entire time.”

“Of course I do! But I’ll go too! A young man knowing how to mix chemicals! Just what I need in the intern program, Mr. Parker. Come. Come this way!”

Peter hugged Tony quickly. “Have a good meeting.” He whispered before darting after Rhodey and Don. Tony smiled fondly at him as he watched until they vanished down the hallway before sighing.

“Duty calls.”

“We’ll look after them, Mr. Stark. You are coming back here before you go home, right?”

“I am.”

“Good. We’ll give you your Christmas present then.”

Tony shook his head. Every year he told them not to get him anything and every year they did it anyway. He waved. “I’m off then. See you later.”

It only took a few minutes for JARVIS to get him upstairs and back into the quinjet. Tony finally could lean back and let JARVIS do the flying again, content to let his friend handle the controls.

 

“Rhodey? Rhodey, wake up! Please, please, please wake up!”

James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes groaned and managed to crack his eyes open. “Peter?”

Relief flooded the kid’s face. “Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been so worried!”

Rhodey reached out and grabbed hold of one of Peter’s hands, squeezing it gently. “What happened?”

“We were all kidnapped.” Peter looked around and Rhodey followed his gaze, finding people laying everywhere. “I think they took everyone in the Tower, Rhodey.”

“Help me up, Peter.”

The kid lifted him to his feet easily and Rhodey kept his hand on Peter’s shoulder to steady himself. “Do you know who it is that did this?”

Peter shrugged. “They didn’t use any names, but I heard a couple of them speaking in what sounded like Russian.”

“Shit! Probably the same bastards that attacked the house, then.”

“Probably.”

“Let’s go see if we can find Mike.”

It took them a bit to finally locate the man. There were over a thousand people in this giant room with them.

“Mike? Are you okay?”

The burly Chief of Tower Security, Mike Scrivson looked over and frowned. “Damn it! I was hoping that you guys had already left.”

“Nope. We’re all here. Any idea what’s going on?”

“Not a clue.”

“Peter was up earlier than I was. He said that the soldiers were speaking in Russian.”

Mike’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t that bunch that attacked you all at the compound speak Russian?”

“That they did.” Rhodey told him grimly.

“Well, shit. They were going to kill all of you also. Not a good sign.” He looked around. “Let’s see if we can find the other department heads and try to get organized.”

It didn’t take long as the others were already heading towards them. Soon it was a crowd as they all talked over what little information they had. It didn’t take long to come to an agreement that their situation was grim. Tony couldn’t release the armor technology. No way. Even if he did, the chances of them being released were slim.

Doctor Maria finally sighed. “Well, Mr. Stark is going to be doing everything he can to get us out of here.”

“Here, here.” “Yeah.” “He will.”

Peter frowned though. “Hey Rhodey?”

“What is it, Peter?”

“Why wait on Tony?”

Rhodey glanced over at Peter, eyebrows rising. Peter looked determined. “Even I can hack into a computer system, Rhodey. This room is filled with brilliant people. You can’t tell me that none of them know how to handle a hack!”

Rhodey grinned as the crowd around them murmured their agreement. “It’s not just that, Peter. We have to get out of this cell and handle the soldiers that are out there. No weapons and no keys. Most everyone in this room is a civilian, too.”

Peter looked at him seriously. “Colonel Rhodes, you have more military experience than half the military! I’ll follow your directions. In fact, when we get out of this one, how about teaching me some of that call sign stuff you use? It would be better than announcing everything to the world.”

Rhodey studied the kid for a minute. None of the others knew it, but Peter was a hell of a weapon to have in their corner. The kid had dropped all 62 of the bad guys that day at the house.

“You got your web shooters and fluid?”

Peter grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets, pulling out all the vials of fluid he’d just made earlier in the day.

“Put’em on kid.”

While Peter was putting his web shooters on, Rhodey turned to Mike. “Let’s work this shit out. You know as well as I do, they’re gonna be coming in here in a bit to kill off a few of us as a show of force. We need to be ready.”

Mike was looking between them in confusion. “No offense, but what good is the kid going to be?”

“Peter? Get up there for me. Mike needs to know.”

Peter nodded and leaped straight up, clinging to the ceiling. All around them, people gasped and started talking. Rhodey just grinned at Mike. “We’ve got the Spiderling on our side.”

“Spiderling?” Mike said as he grinned back and Rhodey nodded.

“He’s the one that took care of the last house attack. 62 of them.”

Mike started to look hopeful. “You think he can drop them when they get here?”

“I do. The hard part is going to be keeping anyone from getting shot.”

“Well… Alright then.” Mike turned to the Department heads. “Start selecting the teams to do the system hacks, guys. I’ll assign some of my people to every team. George!” Another huge man ran over and Mike and George spoke together quickly before he grinned and ran off.

Peter jumped gracefully back to the floor next to him as all around them, the crowd started to break up into smaller squads of people, each of them with assigned Security personnel. Once they’d split up, Mike had them all practice dropping to the ground on command, walking forward in columns and turning right and left on command.

They all finally formed up in squads next to the walls, their Security in front of each squad as everyone waited. It was still several hours before they all heard the sound of booted feet approaching. Rhodey grabbed Peter’s arm and leaned in.

“Remember Peter, we need as many weapons undamaged as you can get, but don’t risk yourself to get them, okay?”

Peter nodded. He was breathing slowly and steadily as he started bouncing on the balls of his feet and Rhodey was reminded that the kid had already been in a shitload of fights for his life and the lives of others.

“Everyone ready?” Mike called back and the squads straightened up neatly. They all knew that as soon as the action started, they were to get on the ground immediately. “Mr. Rhodes?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Rhodey said grimly. The barred doors to their cell opened silently and a huge crowd of black armored soldiers came in, forming up into a neat squadron. They seemed a bit unsure to be faced with the neat ranks of SI employees and not a screaming crowd.

“Attention SI employees! Your boss needs a bit more incentive to release his technology to us! That’s why we’re here.” Their commander said and Rhodey walked out into the open area in front of him.

“You think killing us is going to make Tony release his tech to you? Really? What kind of idiot are you?” Rhodey growled out.

“Colonel James Rhodes, Tony Stark’s best friend of 20 years. My, my but we did get lucky with our haul from Stark Tower.” The man gestured and his squad took aim on Rhodey. “You’ll do.”

Peter was suddenly between them, waving his hands and he bounced in place. “NO! Not Mr. Rhodes! He and Tony are all I’ve got!” Peter babbled at 100 mph and as the soldiers gawked, the kid got closer, step by step.

“Enough of this shit! Get rid of him!” The commander snarled and Peter blurred into motion. Rhodey hit the deck, doing his best to watch though as Peter danced his way through the squad of soldiers, dropping them in a blur of speed. It didn’t even take him two minutes and they’d only gotten two shots off.

“Peter?”

“I’m okay. Did anyone get shot? I tried to keep them from shooting, Rhodey. I did!” Peter said as he ran back to him. 

“Help me up, Peter.”

Peter pulled him to his feet and Rhodey checked him over quickly. There were a couple of small cuts, but nothing serious. “Anything hurt, Peter?”

“No, sir.”

“Thank god.” Rhodey threw his arms around the kid and did his best to hug the life out of him. “I have never been so scared in my life. You did a great job, Peter.”

“I… I did?” Peter said a bit weakly.

“Hell yeah kid. Thirty five to one odds and you’re fighting handicapped, cause you don’t want anyone to get shot? Awesome, Peter.”

“I’ll say, Peter! Great work. Both shots went wide. No injuries!” Mike said as he came up. “George! Strip’em of weapons and gear! Let’s get in business, people!”

Rhodey kept his arm around Peter’s shoulder and they followed the department heads over to the barred doors of their cell. There was a huge argument already going about how to get the doors open.

Phil was waving his arms around. “I’m telling you, there were no keys, no scanners, nothing! It HAS to be a biometric lock and we’ll never get it open. Period!”

“We HAVE to open it, Phil!” Maria said. “The damn bars are vibranium! We can’t cut through them!”

Peter and Rhodey listened to them arguing for a few minutes.

“Hey Rhodey?”

“What’s up, Peter?”

“Want me to try and rip one of the bars apart? I don’t know if I can, but I can try.” Peter said quietly.

Rhodey looked down at those too serious eyes. “You think you can do it?”

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried to bend vibranium.”

Rhodey squeezed his shoulders and nudged them forward. “Try one and see if you can move it at all.”

Peter nodded and toed his shoes off. At Rhodey’s questioning look, he spoke. “Better grip.”

The kid put both hands on one bar and braced himself, shoving against the bar. Rhodey could see the muscles bulging in Peter’s arms as he shoved, his face a mask of concentration. At first, he didn’t think it would work before the bar started to deform under Peter’s grip and slowly bend outward under that pressure. The thing gave with a shriek of protesting metal and Peter jumped back, shaking his hands.

“Ow, ow, ow! It’s hot!” He complained and Rhodey could see the metal was glowing red where it had ripped. Silence fell around them as everyone studied the torn bar.

“Hey, uh… Peter? Do you think you can get it bent on out of the way for us?” Rhodey asked and Peter nodded. The kid did a spin kick and nailed the lower section of bar, dead on. The metal bent right over, glowing a much brighter red at the bend. Two steps back and he jumped up, kicking the top piece, which bent out of the way just as neatly.

“Will that work?” Peter asked him and Rhodey grinned. 

“Oh, yeah. How about doing another couple of bars for us? There’s a lot of us that need to get through.”

“Sure.” 

It took several minutes more of hard work from Peter but he got those bars out of their way. Rhodey grabbed Peter’s shoes and held out his hand.

“Help me get through here, Peter.”

The kid lifted him across the bars and settled him onto the floor of the hallway. He looked both directions.

“It’s quiet.”

“I know.”

Mike was barking out orders and SI people were filing through the opening quickly. It took a good bit to get everyone out and organized back into squads. They waited until Mike gave the signal before advancing. The place was obviously a detention area. There were empty cells everywhere, but none as large as the one they’d all been in. A set of huge metal doors came into view and their line stopped.

“Alright people. Here’s where it gets ugly.” Mike walked over to Rhodey and Peter, holding out two radios. “I’ve set these to SI Security channel 2. You are going to be the only two on the channel. The rest of us are going to be on channel 1. I want to know if I can get Peter to scout ahead for us. We need to know what we’re getting into and see if we can find a computer room.” Mike told them, talking mainly to Rhodey.

Rhodey grimaced, missing his legs more than ever before. To send a kid in first…! But shit, Peter had the best chance of staying unseen and getting them some intel.

“I’ll do it if you want me to, Rhodey. I still have a lot of web fluid left. I can web’em up and let you guys deal with them when you come through. Would that work? You still need a lot more guns, right?”

Mike and Rhodey both lit up. “Now there’s an idea! Peter, that would work! I don’t want you fighting unless you absolutely have to, but you could web anyone you come across and we’ll deal with them as we come on in. I can live with that. Mike?”

The man was already nodding. “Excellent. I’ll get a team ready to deal with the bastards then.”

“And we’ll get a team ready to destroy door locks.” Doctor Don said. “That way no one can come sneaking up from behind on us.”

Mike handed Rhodey a second radio. “I’m assuming you’ll be tailing the kid?”

“Of course.”

“Call us as you clear each hall so we’ll know when we can advance, okay?”

“Will do. Keep your eyes peeled for break rooms or a cafeteria or anything. Peter needs 25000 calories a day normally. With this level of exercise, he’s gonna need a lot more than that. I’ve got to keep him fed.”

“25000? Whew, that’s a lot of food.” Mike said but nodded. “I’ll let you know when we find something.”

What followed was a long and grueling infiltration, led by a superhuman teen and one of the greatest military men in the U.S. There would eventually be TV shows and a movie made of their story, but living it was a different thing. Peter stayed on the ceiling for the most part, webbing up people to their chairs, beds, walls and floors. As soon as he’d clear the hall, he’d call Rhodey who came forward to feed the intel back to Mike, who was bringing everyone else with him.

They’d left a team on each floor they cleared in the computer rooms, doing nothing but running hacks to keep all alarms and defense systems down. Rhodey had also made Peter stop on every floor they went through and eat everything he could find for him in the break rooms, making sure he was drinking enough water. It took hours and hours before they had finally made it to the floor with the main command center on it.

The kid was sitting in a chair at the table, devouring a premade sandwich from the vending machine and finishing off his bottle of water. They both detoured to the restroom before heading out to Mike.

“You guys ready?” He called out and they both nodded. Neither one wanted to admit that they were exhausted.

“This last floor, leave the command room alone this time. We’re all gonna come up and see about taking it over at the very last, okay? The computer guys are telling me that they can’t override the manual controls in there. Time to be super stealthy again. We’ll clear the entire floor and then turn our attention to that thing. Deal?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Rhodey said. “Peter? One more time, kid. How’s the web fluid holding out?”

He dug in his pockets and pulled out four more vials. “Still got some left. I sure am glad I made up such a giant amount though. I thought I’d be good for a couple of years!”

“Hell, I’m glad you did too. Open the doors for us. We’re gone.” Rhodey said as Peter jumped up to the ceiling again. The doors swished open and the two of them slipped into the stairs heading up. The door locked behind them.

Everything proceeded normally for nearly an hour, Peter made good progress through the rooms as there weren’t that many people in here. He had holed up in a room at the end of the latest hall, when his radio crackled to life.

“Rhodey?” Peter’s voice came through softly, sounding terribly young. “There are some people here that I know and they… They’re in pretty bad shape.”

“Where are you, Peter?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I cleared the next hall, sir. Third door on the right. It’s a lab and they’ve got them locked up in cages in here.”

Rhodey called back to Mike quickly and let him know what was going on before he headed down the hall to Peter. He opened the door and found four scientist types in white coats webbed to the walls. Peter was standing in front of some metal cages and he waved at him.

“Here they are.” 

Rhodey walked forward. “Who is it, Peter?”

He pointed. “That one is Logan Howlett. He’s known as Wolverine. That one is a friend of his, Storm. They were X-Men.”

“Logan, huh?” Rhodey stepped forward and the bloody figure in the back of the little cage stirred and started to growl. Rhodey froze but Peter frowned.

“Logan! Don’t growl at Mr. Rhodes! He’s here to help!”

The growling cut off and the bloody figure slowly raised his face, sniffing. “Kid?”

Peter snorted. “I’m sure you know a lot of kids, Logan, but it’s me – Peter.”

“…Peter?”

“Yeah. We’re taking this base over so we’ve got to hurry. We want to get you guys out of there. Are you going to be good?”

A low rumble of a laugh. “Still a bossy kid, aren’t you?”

“Sure. But you and Storm are in terrible shape. Can either of you walk? Do we need to bandage you up first?”

Logan rolled to his feet and Rhodey stepped back again warily. The mutant froze.

“Rhodes, huh? Heard about what happened to the Avengers, man. Me and Storm… We’re not gonna hurt anyone. Especially not anyone that’s friends with the kid. Best damn kid out there.”

Rhodes watched him warily before nodding. “Open their doors, Peter.”

The kid made short work of getting the cages open. “Do you need some help, Logan?”

“Nah. I’ll carry her, Peter. You guys gotta keep clearing rooms, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Where’s the main force? We can just move in with them.”

Rhodey called Mike and the man sent a squad forward to stay with the two mutants. As soon as introductions were made, he sent Peter back on and returned to following him. It still took nearly twenty minutes to finish the floor and call it back to Mike. They all met up in front of the metal security doors in front of the command room. There was a pile of guards webbed to the floor near there that had been standing guard.

They held one last discussion gathered up in front of those doors, after explaining to Logan that they had control over everything on the floor via the computer rooms.

“Well, our best chance is one last clear.” Mike said and Rhodey nodded.

“Peter’s fast enough to get them webbed down before they can do much damage. Kid? You up to one more?”

Peter swallowed and nodded. This one wouldn’t be stealth. It would be speed and whether or not he could go fast enough to prevent them from shooting him or setting the base to self destruct or something crazy. He positioned himself to the side of the doors and waited as Doctor Don rewired the door lock. Doc finally looked over. 

“Everyone ready?”

They all nodded and the doors swished open, Peter vanishing inside in a blur of motion. It was over ridiculously fast. Peter already had everyone webbed immobile when Mike and his team charged in. Rhodey followed them immediately, calling out to Peter who dropped from the ceiling in front of him. He swept him up in a hug.

“I swear Peter, you are the most amazing kid I’ve ever even heard of! I think you deserve the most gigantic Christmas dinner that everyone’s heard of and then you can sleep for a week! How about that?”

Peter grinned at him and hugged him back. “Sounds great! You get to be the one to reassure Tony that we’re still alive though. He’s gonna be clingy for a while after this one.”

Rhodey looked sad but nodded. “He is. It’s Christmas. We’ll stay on the couch all week, how about that?”

“Yes!” Peter cheered and Rhodey grinned. “Now, let’s see if they figured out how to call the boss.”

A small crowd of SI people were gathered around the communications station as they worked. Fifteen minutes later, it was a pissed off group of SI people.

“This thing is a piece of crap! If we broadcast, our location will be spotted and how do you think the government’s going to respond to unidentified communication signals coming from where nothing is supposed to be?!”

“Bomb first, ask questions later.” Another replied and there was a round of grumbling as they kept tossing out ideas.

“Hey Rhodey?”

“Yeah, Peter?”

Peter dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone and his cable. “No cell service, but Mr. JARVIS can use the internet. Can’t we connect the phone to their internet connection and start pinging him? He could find us and figure out how to get Tony’s attention.”

Rhodey grinned as the crowd of people turned at Peter’s words. “They didn’t take a thing from you, did they?”

“Nope. Everyone always underestimates kids, you know.”

Rhodey laughed and grabbed the phone and cable. “You folks can do it, right?”

“Oh, yeah!” There was a mad scramble as they plugged the phone in and set to work getting it connected. JARVIS answered on the third ping.

“Mr. Parker?” The polite European tones of JARVIS rolled from his phone. “Is this your current location?”

Everyone cheered but Rhodey held up his hand for silence. “Hey JARVIS! It’s me. Can you get us a secure line to Tony? We need to fill him in on what’s happened.”

“Everyone has been searching for you for almost twenty hours now. Sir hasn’t slept since you were taken.”

“We’re all fine, J. I’ll tell him in person if you can connect us.”

“Very good, Mr. Rhodes.”

 

Tony Stark sat in the dark stillness of the conference room. On the table in front of him lay scattered papers, tablets, photos and anything else the police had been able to come up with. For the first time, he actually regretted not having SHIELD around. They had contacts that were useful.

He crossed his arms and laid his head on the table. Rhodey and Peter… They were the only family he had left. He couldn’t help but wonder if Peter was being fed or if Rhodey had the chance to take off his braces. Nausea surged up once more and he had to swallow frantically, determined not to throw up.

“Sir?” JARVIS spoke and disturbed the quiet of the room. “I have been contacted by Mr. Rhodes and Peter.”

His head shot up. “What?!”

“I am connecting you now.” JARVIS told him and the main screen flickered to life. 

Tony found himself staring at a bare bones computer room that was FILLED with his people. Most importantly though, standing there in the middle was his family.

“RHODEY! PETER!” He managed to get out as his throat closed up with tears he refused to let fall. “What’s happening?”

They both waved at him. “Hey Tones! As you can see, we’re all fine. These fools thought that SI employees were a bunch of pushovers, man.”

Peter grinned and nodded. “We took over their base, Tony!”

Tony couldn’t help the bark of startled laughter that escaped him as behind his family, everyone started cheering. The crowd parted and he saw his Department Heads come forward, waving.

“Hello Mr. Stark! It’s good to see you, sir!” Called out Doctor Don. The others all chimed in with their greetings and then Mike pushed his way forward, armed with an AR-15 and dressed in body armor.

“Hi, boss! Been a busy day, but we did indeed get you a Christmas present that I’m SURE no one has ever given you before. A base, boss man. Seems to be run by the Russian mafia.”

Behind Tony, cops started flooding into the room, listening in. Tony cleared his throat as he stood up.

“How in the hell did you do it?”

“It’s a long story.” Doctor Phil chipped in.

“But really? What’s an enemy base filled with computers to a bunch of nerds?” Doctor Maria told him.

“Or an enemy base filled with soldiers to ex-US military? We got the job done, boss. No casualties.”

“Couldn’t have done it without the spiderling, Tones.”

Tony’s eyes drifted over and he absolutely ached with the need to hug his family. “JARVIS? Do you have the location?”

“I do, sir.”

“Good. Contact Pepper and arrange transport. We’ve got to get these people back home.”

Everyone cheered again and Peter waved his hand. “Tony?”

“What is it, Peter?”

“They had Wolverine and Storm here, too. They’re in bad shape. Can Doc Williams take a look at them?” Peter said nervously. “I’m worried about them.”

Tony’s eyes darted to Rhodey who nodded. He sighed. “JARVIS, get the Doc and bring the medical quinjet to pick me up.”

“Very good, sir.”

“I’ll be right there, guys.”

”We know you will, Tony.” Rhodey told him with a smile. “I’ve got to go make sure the kid eats again.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’ve BEEN eating! The entire time!”

“Still not enough!” Rhodey countered and Tony felt an actual smile cross his face at their antics.

“I’m leaving the line open. You contact me if anything at all happens or you need anything, okay?”

“Will do, Tones. Your people got it under control though.”

Tony watched them leave the room before turning his attention to the police. He set them to work quickly and headed out to the heliport. The quinjet should be here any minute.

It was a one and a half hour flight to get to the base where his people were kept. He beat the transports there by nearly 25 minutes and the police by over an hour. He was down the ramp as soon as the jet stopped and heading straight for Peter and Rhodey. The kid whooped and ran forward, throwing his arms around him quickly and Rhodey wasn’t far behind. Tony just stood there for a minute, letting the knowledge that his family was safe sink in.

Peter never stopped talking though and pulled him towards the doorway. “You need to meet Logan and Storm. They’re good people, Tony. I think you’ll like them.”

“I will, will I?” He asked, looking over at Rhodey. His friend smiled and nodded.

“I think they like the kid almost as much as you do, Tones.”

Tony’s eyebrow shot up and he followed, waving to his people as they went by. “Mike! Get the heads together somewhere close by. I want a summary of what happened here!”

“Will do, Mr. Stark.” The man yelled back and ventured further inside.

Peter stopped in front of a door and knocked. “Hey Logan? Can I come in?”

“Sure kid.”

Rhodey stayed at his side as Peter introduced him to the mutants. They both were in terrible shape, but Storm was unconscious.

“Has she been out the entire time?” Tony asked and Logan nodded. 

“She’s going in and out. The fuckers didn’t care how badly they hurt us.”

Tony grimaced. “The quinjet has medical facilities and I’ve a doctor waiting. Peter? Can you carry her? Logan, can you walk?”

“I can walk.” He grumbled and slid slowly off the table he was sitting on. He was rather hunched over but he was moving and Peter picked up Storm. She was taller than he was and Rhodey helped steady her head as Peter walked, all of them traveling in a crowd back to the quinjet.

The ramp extended as they got closer and Doc Williams appeared at the top. “Oh, my. Get her up here, Peter! How long has she been unconscious?”

“She’s going in and out, Doc.” Tony cut in. “Logan’s hurt also. The folks here were apparently experimenting on them. They need to be completely checked over and patched up.”

Doc’s eyes roved over his patients quickly and Peter and Rhodey settled Storm onto one of the medical beds. Peter darted over as soon as she was flat to help lift Logan onto the other. Tony and Rhodey waited at the end of the beds as the Doc started scanning, while Peter spoke to Logan.

“See the Doc? He’s not like other doctors, Logan. Doc Williams is a good guy and he actually wants to help heal people. He’s fixed me up a couple of times already and does a great job. Storm doesn’t know me very well. Can you make sure she knows about Doc Williams?”

Logan nodded. “I can, kid. Storm’s not one to lash out first, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Good. Do you need to smell me again? Would it help?”

Logan looked up at the ceiling before nodding slowly. “It would.”

“What about Tony and Rhodey?”

“Kid, I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, just for my benefit.”

Peter frowned. “Me first then.” Tony took an involuntary step forward when Peter leaned over Logan and the mutant leaned into his neck, sniffing deeply before letting his head settle back onto the pillow.

“Thanks, kid.”

“No problem.” Peter turned. “Rhodey? Logan has extremely heightened senses and works best when he knows what you smell like. Can he smell you, just like he did me?”

Rhodey clapped a hand on Tony’s shoulder before walking forward and leaning into Logan. The mutant repeated the process, although it took a bit longer before he settled again.

“Thanks.”

“No problem, man. Tones?” Rhodey said, not moving an inch. Tony gritted his teeth and walked forward quickly, leaning over Logan who repeated the process for the third time. Tony stepped back quickly as soon as Logan was done and Rhodey walked with him.

“Peter? Are you going to stay here then? I’ve got to go meet with the department heads and get everyone arranged onto the transports.”

Peter nodded. “I’ll wait here, Tony.”

“Good. Make sure you eat something!”

“ARGH! I will, I will!” Peter grumbled.

“Rhodey? You staying or coming?”

“With you, of course.”

The two of them headed back down the ramp and Peter settled in the chair next to Logan’s bed.

 

Pepper had come with the transports and she sent Tony home with his family. She was going to fly back to Stark Tower with everyone and get them checked out and sent home. Doc Williams worked on Storm most of the flight, only pronouncing her stable before they landed at the compound. 

It took them a bit of work to get Logan and Storm moved into the Med Bay and settled again, but they did it. Only once Doc Williams was satisfied, did Tony grab Rhodey and Peter and haul them off to their rooms. He was there when they got out of the shower also and true to Rhodey’s prediction, Tony herded everyone into his room and in his bed. Only after he had them both settled where he could touch them, did he relax and not long after, they were all sound asleep.

When Tony finally managed to wake back up, he found himself missing a spiderling. Fear shot through him and he sat straight up.

“JARVIS!”

“Good morning, sir. Peter got up a bit earlier quite hungry. He said to tell you that he’s in the kitchen making breakfast.”

Tony took a deep breath as his heart rate slowed back down. “Thanks, JARVIS.”

“Might I suggest that you and Mr. Rhodes get up and get a bite to eat also? Peter is making enough for everyone.”

“Peter’s cooking, huh?” Tony said with a grin. “I guess it is Christmas.” He leaned over and nudged Rhodey. “Morning, sunshine. The spiderling is cooking breakfast and would like us to come and eat.”

“Peter can cook?” Rhodey said, blinking blearily. “I thought he was the clean up detail.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out if he can cook, won’t we?” Tony said as he slid out of bed. He drug Rhodey’s braces over and set them up for him so he could get them on. “Coffee sounds damn fine this morning. What an absolutely terrible couple of days.” Tony said quietly, getting his friend mobile before heading to the bathroom. It was nearly 20 minutes before the two of them were clean, shaved and dressed.

Both of them stopped in surprise when they got into the kitchen.

“Wow… Peter! I didn’t know you were holding out on us, man!” Rhodey exclaimed as he took in the table full of food. There were homemade biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and cheese, fried potatoes, sausage, bacon and ham all sitting on the table, along with fresh fruit and yoghurt.

Peter just grinned at them. “I’m kind of a breakfast only guy. I used to cook for Aunt May on the weekends so she could eat before she’d go to work.”

Tony and Rhodey both shot him a look but Peter still seemed calm, so Rhodey started dishing up a plate while Tony made coffee. It was a long stretch before any of them even wanted to speak, as none of them had eaten more than a snack in days.

Peter finished up last, even though he started before they did. After all of the energy he’d burned, they both were glad to see him eating. Finally finishing up, he pushed his plate away and smiled at both of them. “Merry Christmas, Tony and Rhodey!”

“Merry Christmas, Peter.” They echoed and Peter’s grin got wider. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a flash drive and a small silver box. Both of them had a rather battered bow on them.

“Now, JARVIS was actually your present Tony, but Aunt May always said that everyone should have one gift to open on Christmas, so… This one is for you.” He handed Tony the flash drive. “And this one is for you.” He gave Rhodey the small silver box.

He promptly sat back down and grinned at them. “Go ahead!”

Rhodey rolled the box around. It had a clip on one side and a switch. “What is it?”

“Try it out. I can’t afford to buy presents, so I made both of yours myself.” Peter said proudly. “Now, of course, keep in mind that I’m only 15 and I haven’t graduated MIT or anything, okay?”

Rhodey grinned at him. “What? You mean it’s not Starktech?”

“No way! It’s beginner Parkertech!”

Rhodey shrugged and flipped the switch, vanishing from sight and Tony jumped. “The HELL?”

Rhodey laughed. “Why’d you jump, man?”

“Because you’re invisible!” Tony said and smiled proudly at Peter. “Damn good job there, Peter!”

“He’s not only invisible, but he’s also not detectable on infrared either.” JARVIS said.

“Really?” Rhodey sounded delighted. “This thing’s awesome, Peter!”

“Well, like everything, it’s good enough for right now. I’ve been planning out how to get it to cancel noise also. Then it would REALLY be stealth!”

Rhodey suddenly popped back into view and grinned at Tony. “Looks like you might have some competition there, Tones.”

“I know. He’s brilliant, isn’t he?” Tony said proudly. “What’s mine?”

“If I tell you, that kind of ruins the surprise, doesn’t it?” Peter told him and Tony sighed. “JARVIS, grab the files.”

Tony got up long enough to get a StarkPad and sat back down, pulling up the files. He was quiet for a long time as he flipped through files, one after another. Rhodey’s eyebrows were going higher and higher as Tony kept reading. He finally looked over to Peter who was starting to look worried.

“What is it, kid?”

“My project files. He’s a lot better than I am and I was hoping he might find something he liked enough to use.” Peter said worriedly. Tony’s head jerked up at the sound of Peter’s voice and he frowned, pushing the Pad over to Rhodey. 

“Read this one.” Was all he said before he got up and walked around the table, hugging Peter tightly. “Peter, I can’t believe you’re only 15. Those plans are great and some of them are brilliant! The one where you recreated your spider-sense technologically… That thing is awesome.”

Peter flushed red as a tomato. “Well, it still needs some work. Unless you’re in your suit, it’s not enough warning to do anything about avoiding the problem.”

Tony barked a laugh. “As Rhodey can tell you, there is ALWAYS something you’re gonna want to fix with your tech. Always. It’s part of being an engineer. The endless desire to FIX things.”

“Peter! This is some awesome shit! I want this thing installed in War Machine, Tony!”

Tony laughed. “I had the same idea for Iron Man. That could be incredibly handy, couldn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah… Built in spider-sense.”

Tony cleared his throat. “Now, I have a gift too. This one is for Rhodey and myself.” He laid a slim silver case on the table and nudged it over to Rhodey. “Open it up.”

Rhodey flipped it open. The case had two syringes in it. He stared at it in confusion for a moment before his eyes widened and he looked up at Tony. “Is this…?”

“Yep. It’s a gift from Peter.”

“It is?” Peter said in confusion.

“Sure is, Peter. Remember the task you gave me all those months ago now?” He tipped his chin towards the case. “There’s the result.”

Peter’s jaw dropped open. “Wow! You figured it out?!”

“I did. I’ve run it by a few trustworthy individuals I know and we’re all in agreement. That thing right there… It’ll work.”

“Indeed, Mr. Rhodes. We’ve reviewed the data extensively. There is a 97.2% chance of complete success. The only variation occurs when it comes to how much of the spider-abilities will transfer. Definitely, speed healing. But there’s a possibility of increased strength or flexibility also.” JARVIS told them and Rhodey’s eyes widened as he struggled to control himself.

“Doc Williams has agreed to supervise the injection this afternoon, Rhodey if you want to go first. We’ll be spacing it out, as I want to make sure Peter always has an adult here to support him.”

Rhodey nodded quietly before scrubbing his hand across his eyes.

Peter cleared his throat and Tony turned in time to catch Peter scrubbing his own eyes. “Hey, Tony? Can I take some breakfast in to Logan and Ororo?”

“Ororo?”

“It’s Storm’s name, Ororo Munroe. She likes Storm though.”

He sighed and nodded. “Let’s get this together. I’ve still got to give you the present from Rhodey and me.”

“Peter? Did Logan tell you how they ended up in that place?” Rhodey asked as he started helping them dish up the food.

“He did. The X-Men disbanded when the Accords came out, but what I didn’t know was that the number of mutants out there has dropped dramatically. Professor X’s school is almost empty and without tuition, their income has gone way down. Logan and Storm left the mansion to try and find work, but no one wants to hire a mutant, especially a dangerous one. Since they’d both signed the Accords, their names are out there.” Peter sighed and looked sad. “They were starving and those guys just tranq’d’em and picked them up.”

“Shit.” Tony said and rubbed his hand over his face. “One thing at a time. Let’s get them well first and then we can figure out what to do.”

Peter nodded and loaded the last of the food onto the cart they were using. “Logan’s probably almost healed by now. All it takes is food and he’s good. He’s like… a couple hundred years old I think he said.”

“Alright then. Let's go see about adding a couple more to our group then, shall we?” Tony said as he stood up. “I think it's time to move on.”

 

The End


End file.
